Lib Dem delegates prefer Miliband to Cameron

The Liberal Democrats appear to be in two minds about Labour at their Glasgow conference this week.

The New Statesman’s George Eaton notes that much of the focus has been on attacking the Tories, with Cable denouncing them as the party of “born to rule arrogance” in his speech today.

However Norman Lamb, the Care and Support Minister, broke ranks to warn against a coalition with Labour. Tim Farron, meanwhile, managed to both defend and attack Ed Miliband in what can only be described as ‘A Lib Dem Speech’. Farron claimed that comparing Miliband to Neil Kinnock was “unfair to Kinnock”, while also suggesting that that criticisms that Miliband is not prime minister material were unfair too: “Anybody can be Prime Ministerial, once they become Prime Minister”.

But what do grassroot Lib Dem members think? BBC’s Daily Politics team asked delegates in Glasgow whether they would rather be in coalition with Ed Miliband or David Cameron. Their answer? Miliband.

Despite their awful poll ratings, there is still a very good chance that the Lib Dems could hold the balance of power after next year’s election – and the opinion of the party faithful could play a big role in how coalition negotiations play out. As surprising as it may seem, Ed Miliband edging ahead here gives him a much better chance of arriving in Downing Street in May.